Baruch Epstein - Definition and Overview

Rabbi Baruch Epstein or Baruch ha-Levi Epstein (1860-1941) was a Lithuanian rabbi. He was the son of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, rabbi of Novarodok and author of the work Aruch ha-Schulchan.

Biography

Baruch grew up in Novarodok, where his father was the communal rabbi, but moved to the city of Pinsk after his marriage and lived there until his death, apart from a period from 1923 to 1926, which he spent in the United States of America looking (unsuccessfully) for a rabbinic position.

Although Baruch was a bookkeeper by profession, he had been a student at the yeshiva of Volozhin (under his uncle Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin) and was to author a number of popular and scholary works.

Bibliography

• Torah Temimah ("The Torah is Perfect") - a commentary on the Torah citing all quotes of a particular verse in the Talmud or Midrash, and giving textual explanations.
• Baruch she-Amar ("Praised He Who Spoke") - a commentary on the siddur (Jewish prayerbook).
• Mekor Baruch ("Source of Blessing") - autobiographical work with notes on life in the Volozhin yeshiva and his uncle. Selections were translated as "My Uncle the Netziv" (see below).
• Tosefet Beracha ("Added Blessing") - novellae on the Torah

Books

• Rabbi Baruch Epstein (translated by Rabbi Moshe Dombey). My Uncle the Netziv. Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah publications ltd, 1988. ISBN 0-89906-4922.

External links

• A biography (http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/epstein.htm) on www.ou.org